Volcanic Chaos [Ch. 13]

Plains Biome, OverWorld

Post Battle for the OverWorld

Daniel, Petra, and Victoria all walked over to where Henry was lying on his back. The iron sword Henry had used during the battle laid next to him, broken up into three pieces. The handle, middle section of the sword, and the top of the sword.

The iron armor that had been given to him by EnderBrine sometime before the Battle for the OverWorld, was dented and cracked and chipped. The armor was useless now. No more was the armor capable of protecting Henry. It was useless metal now.

Daniel, Petra, and Victoria all stood over Henry. They were all staring down at him. They had their arms crossed. As Henry groaned and moaned, he fluttered his eyes as he opened them. The sun's light, beaming down onto the OverWorld was very bright. Henry raised his arm to shield his eyes from the sun's light.

When he looked up, he saw Daniel, Petra, and Victoria all looking down at him. He gulped as he sat up and then got back up onto his feet. He held his hands up in the air above his head, not taking his sights off of the three of them. In the background, he could see everyone else who had participated in the battle against him and the Brine Family.

Carlily was sitting on the ground next to her son HeroBrine. Other blockheads were checking in on each other to make sure they were okay. When Henry looked over to his left, he could see a nether portal in the center of what was the battlefield. It was active. Small purple particles were being sucked into the portal.

Then, there he was, the ferocious and dangerous dragon himself--Elderon. The most feared dragon in all the biomes was actually here. But he wasn't acting out, blowing hot fire out of his mouth, no. Instead, he was laying on the ground, with his head resting flat on the ground. He burped once. It was a very loud burp.

"Must be the after taste of eating NetherBrine alive," a female blockhead announced as she continued to gently petting Elderons head, scratching behind his ear a couple of times. If only Elderon hadn't helped the good guys win, then maybe the Brine Family would've won the battle. If only.

"I hope you're happy," Daniel said in an angry and frustrated tone. He slowly shook his head from side to side as he stared at Henry. "You betrayed us all. You betrayed your friends. We all looked up to you once to be our leader. And, If I'm being honest, you were a darn good leader too. I only have one question for you. The same question I asked EnderBrine before we--well you know--banished him to the NetherRealm."

Henry gulped again as he slowly lowered his hands. "You--you did that?" Henry asked.

Petra had an intimidating look on her face as she briefly looked to her right at Daniel and then back at him. "That's right," she stated, "he'll never escape, and he'll never get the chance to terrorize the OverWorld again. Same goes for you too, Henry."

"What--what are you going to do to me?" Henry asked as he stuttered his own words.

Petra and Daniel sighed and shrugged their shoulders. They weren't sure what they were going to do to him. Banishing him to the NetherRealm wouldn't be a good idea. Two villains together could spell revenge. So banishing Henry to the NetherWorld was out of the picture. But that doesn't mean Daniel and Petra didn't have another idea on their minds.

"Well for starters, we aren't going to banish you to the NetherWorld," she responded, "that would just be a stupid thing to do. Instead, Daniel and I, along with Victoria and her guidance, have decided we're going to banish you from ever returning to these lands. Consider yourself lucky, Henry."

"I'm more than lucky, I'm grateful," Henry responded.

Petra, Daniel, and Victoria all raised their eyebrows, starstruck at what he had just said. Why was he grateful? Were Daniel and Petra being too relaxed on his punishment? Or was banishing him from these lands a good idea?

"Well don't think for a second that we're going to forgive you for what you did," Daniel said, "as long as you're alive, there's no chance of us ever forgetting what happened these past few days and here. The memory of you betraying us will forever be on our minds."

"I'm truly sorry for what I did," Henry said, "you have to understand why I did what I did. Just--just let me explain, please! That's all I ask of you guys."

Daniel, Petra, and Victoria all sighed heavily as they all shook their heads. They all glanced down at the ground briefly before looking back up at him.

"If you think you're going to be forgiven, you're gravely mistaken. No matter what you tell us, no matter how many times you apologize, you're still going to be punished."

"I never wanted for any of this to happen, believe me. They came to me one night and offered me unlimited power. But they'd only grant me that power if I helped them succeed, which I did. EnderBrine, NetherBrine, and Herobrine all promised me one thing," Henry continued explaining.

"What'd they promise you besides unlimited power?" Victoria asked as she quickly glanced over at Petra and Daniel and stared at them briefly. After that, she refocused her attention on Henry and waited for him to answer her question.

"They said they'd transform me into a demi-god if I helped them. That's another reason why I chose to help them. It was never about you guys, I swear. My judgement was corrupt, which in turn made me make poor decisions. But because we lost, I don't think I'm going to transform into a demi-god and receive unlimited power, will I?" Henry asked.

Daniel and Petra both closed their eyes and shook their heads a couple of times.

"I'm afraid not, Henry," Daniel said, "but back to your punishment. As far as banishing you goes, you'll forever be forbidden from returning to these lands. No longer will you be our friend. No longer will you be a leader. You won't ever have anymore friends, or fellow blockheads to keep you company. As far as I know, you're going to be alone for the rest of your life. If you manage to safely sail across the ocean that is."

Present Day

Night

"I told you that talking about my past around the children wasn't a good idea," Henry stated as he and Ceres walked down a hallway together.

Ceres remained quiet because he was still mentally processing everything that Henry had told him. Ceres was tapping his chin with his hand as he continued to process Henry's explanation.

"So let me get this straight," Ceres said, "after the battle had ended, Daniel and Petra banished you and forbade you from returning, is that it?"

Henry looked over to his right at Ceres. Henry put his hands behind his back. The two of them continued to walk slowly down the hallway. Everyone else was simply minding their own business as they comforted one another. Victoria and Frederick had left shortly after arriving at Henry's Retreat. After they both made sure that everyone was okay and safe, the two of them left, probably going back up to the Heavens above.

"That's correct, yes," Henry responded. "But you have to believe me when I tell you I've changed drastically since then. I'm not the blockhead I used to be, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Henry," Ceres said, "deep down, you're still a villain. That part of you will never go away. What happens if you go back to your old ways? Then what?"

Henry sighed and faintly smiled at Ceres. He was trying very hard not to get angry with him. After all, what Henry did was not his fault. Ceres was simply just trying to understand why Henry betrayed everyone. That's all Ceres wanted to know. That's all he cared about at this moment. So far, Henry has answered many of his questions, but a few unanswered questions remain to be asked.

"Why are you being so stubborn and mean to me? Haven't I shown you enough evidence already? Is having a daughter not enough for you to believe me?" Henry asked, "She's the reason why I changed."

"Is that so?" Ceres responded as he glanced over to his left to look at Henry. Ceres was tilting his head slightly as he stared over at Henry.

"Yes," Henry responded, "I found her stranded alone in the middle of the ocean. She was the only one in a boat. Debris littered the area around Annabelle. She was crying out for help. So what did I do? I rescued her. After I did that, we began sailing back to this island. Annabelle was oddly very quiet. At that time, I couldn't figure out why she was so silent. But as time progressed onwards, she slowly began opening up to me. I think she knew I wasn't a bad guy after all. I've been raising her ever since. I tried going back out to sea to try and find her parents, but to no avail. The one thing I did manage to piece together was that a ship had recently sank in the area where I found Annabelle."

"She was the only survivor, wasn't she?" Ceres asked as he turned his head and made eye contact with Henry. As they stared into eachothers eyes, Henry slightly nodded his head at Ceres.

"Yes, she was," he answered, "If it weren't for me, she would've been taken as a prisoner by the Sirens. I wasn't going to let that happen."

As Henry and Ceres approached the end of the hallway, they came upon an oakwood door. Henry glanced over at Ceres as he grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. Outdoors, they went. Once they were outside, they could hear faint giggling sounds from nearby. As the two of them looked all around, Henry had managed to locate the blockheads behind the constant giggling.

It was Annabelle and Ava. They were chasing one another around, playing tag with each other. Henry and Ceres faintly smiled as they watched the girls run around tirelessly and full of energy. At least they were getting along.

"At least they're not worried about anything, am I right?" Henry mentioned.

"Yeah, I suppose," Ceres said.

As Henry and Ceres stood next to each other, they continued watching Ava and Annabelle run around, chasing after one another. The day was halfway done, with the sun shining down directly above everyone. Then small black and gray particles began falling down from the sky. It took everyone a moment to catch on as to what was happening.

When Henry and Ceres noticed the black and gray particles falling down to the ground, the two of them made eye contact. Ceres frowned as he held his hand out straight in front of him. As the particles continued fluttering downwards towards the ground, one small black particle had landed on his hand. Ceres instantly started shaking his hand frantically.

Henry looked over at him and down at his right hand. He raised one eyebrow. "What happened?" Henry asked, "are you okay?"

As Ceres nodded his head, he responded back to Henry. "Yeah I'm fine. The particle that landed in my hand was extremely hot. It had caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting that once so ever."

When Henry had looked up into the sky, he saw thick and heavy black smoke billowing out from the volcano. The thick black smoke was the main culprit behind the falling, hot particles. Ava and Annabelle stopped chasing each other around and stood in place. They, too, both stared up into the sky. As the smoke continued to move across the sky, it had begun blocking out the sun.

Henry frantically turned his head to look back over at Ava and Annabelle. He pointed his hand in the direction of the house. "Get inside now, you two," Henry shouted.

No he wasn't mad at them. He was simply just protecting them and watching out for them. Without saying a single word back to Henry, the two girls bolted back towards the house. Once they were inside, Henry refocused his attention back to the matter at hand.

"I didn't know mountains could do that," Ceres said as he continued staring up at the thick, black smoke.

Because the smoke was so thick and black, it blocked the sun's light. Which in turn made it seem like nightfall was upon the OverWorld. But it wasn't. Thanks to the smoke, darkness had returned.

"They don't," Henry responded. "We need to evacuate...like right now."

"What's going on?" Ceres asked.

"That's no mountain," Henry said, "that's a volcano!"

"A what now?" Ceres questioned, trying to make Henry repeat what he had just said.

"A volcano!" Henry said as he lowered his head and began shaking it from side-to-side. He slapped himself on the forehead. "I knew this day would come. I'm so stupid! I knew I should've left long ago. But no, I just had to stay here on this stupid island."

Ceres lowered his head and looked over at Henry. Deep down, Ceres felt kind of bad for Henry and what he's been through. His stubbornness was starting to recede as he watched Henry beat himself up, metaphorically, about the current situation.

"We need to leave now," Henry responded as he suddenly stopped blaming himself for what's happening right now.

"Good idea," Ceres responded.

Together, they both ran as fast as they could back over to the house. Once there, Henry barged back into his house. Ceres followed right behind them. Right as they walked into the house, the ground beneath them began shaking violently. The ground was shaking uncontrollably. It didn't seem like it was going to stop.

The shaking was so severe that it had knocked many blockheads off of their feet. Annabelle, once she got back up off of the floor, frantically ran over to Henry. She was holding her arms out in front of her.

Henry leaned over slightly to pick her up. He was now holding her tightly within his arms, trying very hard to not drop here or lose his balance. He then turned around and sprinted back over to the door. It was still open. After running back outside, everyone else followed close behind him. Where were they going? What was happening?

Not everyone knew what was happening, muchless what the volcano was about to do. They were all clueless and had no idea. No one asked any questions, for now at least, about the situation. There was no time to grab personal belongings from Henry's Retreat. It's not going to be much longer before the volcano eventually erupts. When it does, you shouldn't be here. Unless you want to be burned by the hot lava, then escaping was the only good idea and only way to go.

The beach in which the hot air balloons had landed wasn't very far away from where Henry's Retreat was located. His house was closer to the water than everyone had originally thought it was. As everyone continued running as fast as they could to outrun, everyone arrived at the ravine. The same ravine that everyone had crossed previously. Only this time, there was no way across. The log that spanned the entire width of the ravine was gone. Because Henry and Notch had chopped away at the wood, everyone was trapped once again. The ground was continuing to shake, and black and gray particles continued to fall from the sky. Loud rumbling sounds were heard, as well cracking and snapping sounds.

The snapping sounds were caused by trees that had snapped because they were violently whipped from side-to-side by the immense power of the shaking ground. A lot of trees were beginning to topple over. As for the cracking sounds, they were caused by large chunks of cobblestone and stone breaking free from the side of the volcano. The massive chunks of rocks tumbled down the side of the Volcano, eventually slamming into the ground. When they did, they chunks broke yet again into smaller chunks of solid stone and cobblestone.

"I know another way around the ravine," Henry shouted to everyone as he began running again with Annabelle still tightly wrapped in his arms. Ava was being carried by her mother Natasha. If you focused hard enough, you would be able to see the fear and terror in their eyes.

They continued to follow Henry until they arrived on the beach. After running through the dense jungle, they had all made it to the beach safely and unharmed. But they weren't off the hook just yet. Henry set Annabell back down onto her feet. Natasha did the same with Ava.

Over by the shoreline, four wooden rafts were beached. Henry pointed over at them. "Get to those rafts now! That's your only way off this island."

Notch and Ceres both glanced down at Henry, wondering why he said "you're" instead of "our". Why was that?

"Aren't you coming?" Notch asked.

Henry kissed Annabelle on the forehead once, resting his hands on her cheeks. They stared into eachothers eyes. Annabelle frowned and looked down at the ground.

"Aren't you coming too papa?" She asked.

The only response Henry gave her was a slight smile on his face. That's all he did. Nothing more. He then pulled Annabelle in closer to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Annabelle wrapped her arms around him too. After they finished hugging, Annabelle took one step backwards away from henry.

"Promise daddy you'll be a brave little girl," Henry said as he began quivering his lips. He was desperately trying to keep his emotions at bay, but even that was hard for him to do. Annabelle began quivering her lips as her eyes began to get very watery.

"You can do that for me, can't you sweetheart?" Henry asked as he held both of his hands out so that they could hold each other's hands one last time. As she stared into her adopted fathers' eyes, she held his hands as tightly as she could. She didn't want to let go.

"I--I think--I can," Annabelle responded in between breaths. She was stuttering everything she was saying. Henry smiled once more as he pulled her closer to him once again. They hugged briefly. After they did that, Henry got back up onto his feet.

"Why aren't you coming with us?" Ceres asked.

"This is my chance," Henry said, "this is my chance to redeem myself. Someone has to stay behind to push those rafts back into the water. I'm going to sacrifice myself to save all of you. You don't need me in your guys' lives any longer. You said it yourself Ceres. I'll just cause more trouble sometime down the line again."

After he finished ranting to Ceres and Notch, he looked back up at the volcano. Right as he did that, the volcano erupted. Super hot magma came flying out of the volcano and into the air. When the lava began falling back towards the ground, everyone on the rafts began panicking and screaming.

"Go!" Henry shouted as he began waving his arm back and forth in front of him. Ceres, Notch, and Annabelle began making their way over to the rafts. Once they got onto the rafts, Henry began backing up towards them. He then turned around and ran over to the first raft. With all of his might, he managed to push the rafts back into the water. He repeated this process three more times.

Once all of the rafts were in the water, Henry stood on the beach. He put his hands behind his back and watched everyone float further and further away from the beach. Everyone sat down on their rafts, watching the island get smaller and smaller, and further away. Henry started waving his hand back and forth.

"Tell Daniel and Petra that I'm sorry," Henry shouted as loudly as he could. But because of the distance between the rafts and the island, not everyone heard what he had said.

"Tell them I'm sorry for everything I did, okay?" Henry shouted.

But no one heard him. They were too far gone. Now that everyone was safe once more, everyone just remained quiet. The only things making sounds were the oars going in and out of the water. That's it. Ceres was sitting next to Annabelle. He was now wishing he hadn't been so harsh and cruel to Henry. The hatred and anger he once felt towards Henry was now gone, almost like he was never upset with Henry at all.

He knew why he wasn't angry and upset anymore. Little did he know at first, was that he had just forgiven Henry for everything he did in the past. Why? Because he saved everyone's lives. If it weren't for him, everyone would have fallen victim to the volcano's brutal and dangerous wrath. Henry had finally redeemed himself, proving to Ceres and everyone else that he, in fact, did change afterall. He sacrificed himself so that they could live. That sounds like something a hero would do, right? A traitor, he was no more. A hero, he now was.